The One
by SimOph52
Summary: Brennan makes an irrational impulse purchase and Booth finds out!


'_What am I doing?'_ was all that Temperance could think as she looked at herself in the mirror. The dress was beautiful and not to be vain, but she knew that she looked beautiful in it. It was a simple a-line dress that cut off at mid-calf and was encrusted with pearl beading and a single layer of white tuile that skimmed the satin white silk beneath it.

She gently gathered her hair behind her head and secured it in a low pony tail at the base of her neck as she swayed from side to side, looking at herself in the pricey wedding dress. She didn't know why she was here. She didn't want to get married, no one had even proposed to her and more importantly there was no one that she was seeing who could.

It was true. Temperance Brennan, of rational mind and sound body had driven across state lines only to find herself in a bridal shop trying on dresses that she didn't even need. It had started off as a drive home from work, then turned into a cathartic drive around town and then a knee-jerk decision to try on a wedding dress.

She wanted to know why women were so enthralled by the chance at marriage. What made women so crazed about finding the perfect dress at a discounted price? She ran her hands down the sides of the bodice and swayed in the dress. It was as if the women in the mirror was a completely different person. The woman in the mirror was happy and excited while she only felt increasingly more foolish and alone.

Her body knew the reasons that she couldn't fathom. The woman was comfortable and beautiful and certainly not afraid of anything because she had a clear direction and path whereas Temperance Brennan had no idea what she was doing.

_'Booth would love this'_ she thought to herself. Watching her parade around in a four thousand dollar wedding dress. He would probably say something like, 'are you changing your mind about the archaic institution', or something just as annoying and glib. She rolled her eyes at her mirrored self as a knock on the door startled her.

"Is everything okay in there?" the sales lady asked.

Brennan's eyes grew wide. It was logical for them to assume that she was indeed a bride; she should have realized that earlier, "Um… yes. Everything is fine." She called.

"Well why don't you come on out and look at yourself in the big mirror, honey!" the woman called.

"No thank you." Brennan called, "That won't be necessary."

"Don't be ridiculous, dear! Come and have a look." She said insistently. Brennan reluctantly turned the lock and stepped out of the room and the sales woman gasped, "Oh, honey. I think this is the one!" she said excitedly.

Brennan smiled hesitantly as the woman led her over to the larger three framed mirror. She stepped up onto the platform and looked at herself, "It's a very beautiful dress." Brennan confirmed.

"Your fiancé is going to die!" she said, "How many other dresses have you tried on?" she asked.

Brennan shrugged, "This is the first one."

The woman fluffed the dress and looked at her in the mirror, "Well you know, they always say that the first one you try on; it's always the one!" she said, "I don't even think that we're going to need alterations!" she said. Brennan remained silent as the sales woman fussed over her, getting a necklace from their in house jewelry case and a veil she deemed fitting of the dress, "Look at you!"

Brennan looked at herself in the mirror. She felt like the biggest fool. She should never have come here in the first place, but the draw was too strong. She felt her eyes beginning to tear up and the sales woman grabbed a nearby box of tissues, "Thank you." Brennan said, taking one.

"It's not the first time a bride has shed tears when she found the one." She said.

What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't possibly let the woman know that she wasn't actually getting married and was only wasting her time. She wiped the tears away from her eyes and nodded, "I'll take it." She said.

The woman smiled, "Wonderful. I wish I could see the look on your man's face when he sees you in this." She said, "You look absolutely gorgeous." she said genuinely.

After paying for a dress that she didn't need and a veil to go along with it, Temperance got back in her car, dress and all and headed back to her apartment in the city. Upon arriving home, she hung the dress in her front closet and took out her laptop in order to accomplish something with a clear purpose unlike her earlier actions which had no direct outcome. She attempted to read over her last chapter, but her eyes continuously moved back to the closet where the dress now hung; almost as though it were calling to her.

Putting her computer to the side, she stood up and opened the closet door. The dress was very beautiful, she reasoned, and she had just spent four thousand dollars for it. It couldn't hurt to try it on once more before putting it into storage or donating it to a worthy cause. Without pause, she took the dress out of the closet and went into her bedroom.

She looked at herself in the mirror as she zipped it up. It was a shame really, that she had purchased an impractical item for a ceremony which she didn't believe in. She silently cursed the tradition of wearing a white dress because it ruined white dresses for every single woman with no intention of getting married.

She sighed and then reached for the zipper to take it off, but found that it was stuck. She pulled harder, but found herself unsuccessful. As if it couldn't get any worse than that, a knock sounded at her front door. She hastily pulled harder on the zipper, but found that the more insistent she became the less sympathetic the zipper became. She recognized the knock at the door and knew that if she didn't answer in mere moments he would bust in the door because her lights were on.

She hurried down the hall unlocked the door, only opening it a crack, "Hey Booth." She said, peering through the crack.

"Are you going to let me in?" he asked.

"I can't actually." She said.

"Come on, Bones. I'm carrying two bags of Chinese and a six pack here." He whined.

"Now is not a good time." She said aggravated.

Booth paused and looked at her, "You… you have a guy in there." He said disappointedly.

Brennan sighed, "No, Booth. I'm alone, but this isn't a good time."

"Well if you're alone, then let me in! This stuff is getting heavy." He said, lightly kicking the bottom of the door.

"I can't Booth!" she nearly yelled.

Booth's eyes became wide with alarm and he set the bags and beer on the floor and removed his gun from its holster, "Back away from the door, Bones." He said.

"What are you doing, Booth?" she yelled.

"Back away from the door, Bones." He whispered insistently.

Brennan knew that he must have seen something or heard something out in the hall so she backed away from the door as instructed and walking further into her apartment. The door kicked open and Booth came inside, weapon at the ready. When he saw that there was no one inside holding her captive he looked at his partner bewildered, then suddenly forgetting all about it as he looked at her, "WOW!" he said breathlessly.

Brennan crossed her arms in front of her and turned away, "Please don't look at me." She said self consciously.

"Why not?" he asked, still in shock, "You look so beautiful." He said, taking a few steps towards her.

"It's embarrassing!" she yelled over her shoulder at him.

Booth walked towards her and gently took her by the shoulders and sitting her down at the kitchen table. He sat next to her and turned his chair towards her, resting his large hand on her small delicate hands, "Why is looking gorgeous embarrassing?" he asked.

Brennan looked at him incredulously and then rolled her eyes, "It's a wedding dress, Booth!" she said.

Booth's heart stopped momentarily at the thought that she may be getting married to someone other than him, but then quickly disregarded the though, "Yeah, I noticed, Bones." He said, smiling comfortingly.

"You don't find it… hypocritical?" she asked.

Booth shrugged, "It's a dress, Bones. Not a marriage certificate."

Brennan smiled and chuckled, leaning her head on his shoulder, "How do you always do that?" she asked.

"What?" he said, running his hand over her back tenderly.

"Make me feel better with a single phrase." She said, keeping her head buried in the crook of his neck.

"It's one of my super powers." He said jokingly.

Brennan giggled and then removed her head from his shoulder, "So, you like it?" she asked sheepishly.

Booth laughed, "I love it." He answered honestly.

"Well, get a good look, because this is going to charity tomorrow, if I can ever get it off." She said standing and working on the zipper again.

"What! No! Absolutely not!" he said, standing up as well.

Brennan stopped working on the zipper to look at him, "What, Booth? I'm not getting married, I have no reason to have this dress." She said.

"Marry me!" he said instinctively. His breath caught in his throat as it dawned upon him what he just said.

Brennan's eyes widened, "What?" she said, also shocked.

Booth put on a sheepish smile, "That dress is too beautiful on you for it not to be seen. So what do you say?" he said, charm smiling her.

Brennan shook her head, "I'm not going to marry you, Booth." She laughed, "We're not even in a relationship."

"Too bad." He said shaking his head, "But I still won't let you toss it." He said, crossing his arms defiantly.

Brennan rolled her eyes, "It's just going to collect dust, Booth."

Booth shrugged, "Who cares! I mean, one day when you find the right guy, you may decide to get married and then you'll realize that you had the perfect wedding dress, but you threw it out because 'it got all dusty'." He said.

"You really think I'm going to get married one day?" she asked sarcastically.

Booth shrugged, "If I were the lucky guy who got you to love me; I'd never want to let you go." He said. Brennan stood still, staring at her partner while Booth cleared his throat and hesitantly smiled at her, "Now, let's see if I can work some Seeley Booth magic on this zipper." He said, rubbing his hands together. He moved to her side and took hold of the fabric and jiggled the zipper until it came down in a smooth stroke, "There." He said, "The tag was stuck in the zipper." He said.

Brennan grabbed the side of the dress and held it closed with her hand as she turned to Booth, "Thank you." She said simply.

"Anytime, Temperance." He smiled.

Brennan looked away from his mesmerizing eyes before saying, "The food is still outside."

Booth jolted and moved to the still wide open door, "You hungry?" he asked.

"Famished." She said, "Let me just change." She said moving down the hall and into her bedroom. She closed the door and leaned against it letting out a calming breath.

When she had finished taking off the dress and changing into more comfortable clothing, Brennan made her way back out into the living room to find Booth already halfway through his meal and comfortably sprawled out on her couch. She laughed at the image of him there and took a seat next to him.

"You're not getting rid of it, are you?" he asked a few minutes into their silence.

Brennan shook her head, "Why are you so concerned about the dress?" she asked.

"I already told you, Bones." He said, stuffing some fried pork into his mouth.

"Are you referring to the part where you said my dress would get dusty, or the part when you said that if we were dating you would want to marry me?" she asked.

Booth choked on his food and took a sip of beer to help wash it down, "Is that what I said?" he asked suspiciously, "Because I don't think that's what I said."

"There is no need to be embarrassed, Booth. You would like to get married someday. If you and I were in a relationship, I would consider marrying you." She explained.

Booth stiffened and turned to her, "You would?"

"Because I know how important it is to you!" she added, "I'm not saying that I would, but I would at least have to consider the possibility despite my logical reasons for not doing so."

Booth paused and studied her as she wrapped a noodle around her chopstick and slid it into her mouth, "Bones, what are you actually saying here?" he asked.

She swallowed and gestured with her chopsticks, "I was saying that if we were in a relationship that I would…"

"No." he shook his head, "I got that part. But, are you saying that you would want to be in a relationship with me?" he asked hesitantly.

Brennan thought for a moment, "No, that isn't what I was saying, however the possibility has crossed my mind."

Booth put down his food container and sat back on the couch, "Do you have feelings for me?" he asked, "Romantic feelings?" he clarified, knowing that she would begin listing all of her emotions towards him.

Brennan put her food down and moved away from him, "Why are you asking this?"

"I need to know, Bones." He said, "I need to know."

Brennan thought over his words before responding, "I've made you uncomfortable." She stated, "Don't worry, Booth. I won't bring it up again. There is no need to sever our partnership." She said, going to grab her food again.

Booth reached out and stopped her hands, "No, Bones. I wasn't think about severing our partnership. Are you in love with me?" he asked.

Brennan retracted her hand from his and crossed her arms over her chest, "From what I've read on the study of chemical reactions in the brain in reference to the feelings of love; I can state with certainty that I do."

Booth sat for a moment and looked at her. Never in his life had he imagined that someone like Temperance Brennan would admit to being in love with him. Until this point, he wasn't sure that she even knew what love was much less how to identify it within herself, "I'm in love with you too, Bones." He smiled.

Before he could even stop her, she lunged at him, and planted her lips on his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he snaked his around her torso and pulled her closer to his body. Their kiss was passionate and frenzied, but Booth knew when to say when in this particular instance. He gently pulled away from her and laughed, "Wow." He said for the second time that night in reference to her.

Brennan laughed, "I feel wonderful right now." She said, "I've been that with me for so long now."

Booth smiled and kissed her neck, "Me too, Bones. Me too."

"So, what now?" she asked.

Booth smiled and shrugged, "Wanna get married?"

They both laughed out loud. And despite being a logical scientist and a no-nonsense tough guy cop; they both innately knew that they were finally and contentedly with 'the one' and it was all because of the impulse purchase of a perfectly unneeded wedding dress.

The End.

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